Jerry Byrd

Gerald "Jerry" Byrd (born March 9, 1920 in Ohio , † April 11, 2005 in Honolulu ) was an American country singer and musician. He is considered a pioneer of the Hawaiian steel guitar in country music, as he was the first country musician, alongside Cliff Carlisle , to use it successfully.

Life

Childhood and youth

Jerry Byrd was the first child of Harley and Lauretta Byrds. Born and raised in Lima, Ohio , he first heard a steel guitar in a tent show in 1932. The young Byrd was completely fascinated by this instrument, so he learned to play the guitar himself. At fifteen he was already playing professionally and performing in bars in the evenings. According to his own account, he earned a dollar per gig. In 1939 he successfully graduated from high school.

Beginnings

Shortly afterwards he made the acquaintance of the music studio owner Ron Dearth. Dearth offered to record a record in his studio. However, this record had only moderate success. He then moved to Kentucky , where he performed regularly on the Refro Valley Barn Dance Show . In 1941 he fell ill with pneumonia that almost cost him his life. Due to his illness, he escaped being drafted into the army. After recovering from his parents in Lima, he moved to Detroit , Michigan . While performing on the WJR radio station, he became a member of Ernest Tubb 's Texas Troubadors . He then took on various records with the backing band Red Foleys , the Cumberland Valley Boys .

breakthrough

Byrd's popularity grew slowly. He achieved his national breakthrough through the film Hollywood Barn Dance , in which he played the lead role. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry , America's most famous radio show. His records sold by themselves and his concerts were always sold out. In the following three years he took part in over a hundred recording sessions.

In 1949, Byrd moved to Cincinnati, Ohio . There he appeared in addition to his appearances in the Opry in Nashville on the weekly radio show Midwestern Hayride . Every Friday night when he got to Nashville to perform at the Opry on Saturday, he and Chet Atkins had a radio show called The Two Guitars . In 1954, Byrd moved entirely to Nashville, where he would live and work for the next 20 years. At that time he appeared regularly as an acoustic guitarist in the band on the TV show National Life Grand Ole Opry . In the mid-1970s he retired, but still appeared in public. In 1978 he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame . Jerry Byrd died on April 11, 2005 at the age of 85.

plant

Although the steel guitar is not that popular these days, Jerry Byrd had an influence on other country musicians that should not be underestimated. The fact that Hawaiian music was so extraordinarily popular in the 1930s and 1940s is largely due to Byrd, with other performers such as Frank Ferera , Sol Hoopii , Roy Smeck or the blues-oriented Cliff Carlisle having their share.

literature

• Erlewine, Michael u. a. (Ed.): All Music Guide to Country Music. The experts guide to the best recordings in country music . San Francisco, Cal .: Miller Freeman Books, 1997, pp. 64f

Web links

• Jerry Byrd on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)